MALACAÑANG on Saturday, December 1, offered its condolences and prayers to the family of former United States president George H.W. Bush, who died at the age of 94 because of apparently failing health.

“The Palace is deeply saddened by the news of the passing of former President George Herbert Walker Bush of the United States of America,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

“On behalf of the Filipino nation and people, we wish to convey our condolences and prayers to the family and friends of Mr. Bush, as well as to the government and the people of the United States of America,” he added.

Bush's death comes after his wife, Barbara Bush, died on April 17.

A week after his wife's death, Bush was admitted to a hospital intensive care unit after contracting a blood infection, according to a BBC report.

In May, he was also reportedly taken to a hospital in Maine after experiencing low blood pressure and fatigue.

Bush is the 41st of the US from 1989 to 1993, his term defined by the end of the Cold War and the first Iraq war against Saddam Hussein.

He is also the father of former Republican president George W. Bush, who served two terms from 2001 to 2009; and former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who withdrew his 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

Panelo acknowledged Bush's foreign policy during his stint as US president, which saw the end of the Cold War.

“He (Bush) stood for freedom and his words about the subject ring a bell until this day when he said, ‘The anchor in our world today is freedom, holding us steady in times of change, a symbol of hope to all the world,’” the Palace official said. (SunStar Philippines)